More than three-fifths of Nicaraguans are mestizos, persons of mixed European and

American

Indian ancestry.

Blacks and whites are about equal in number, together making up roughly

African and European descendants together account for about one-fifth of the population.

American

Indians constitute less than 5 percent of the population. The Indian groups are split into two regions: the west coast has a small number of Monimbó and Subtiava

Indians. Although Spanish-speaking mestizos now constitute the largest single group even on the east coast, the population of that region also includes

groups, as well as the Matagalpa (whose language is extinct), who live in the west-central city of the same name, while the Miskito, Sumo, and Rama

Indians as well as Black Caribs, also known as Garifuna (descendants of African slaves and Carib Indians), and Creoles (English-speaking blacks).

reside on the east coast. Also living in the eastern region are the Garifuna (formerly called Black Caribs), who are descendants of the Carib people and Africans exiled from British colonies in the eastern Caribbean (Lesser Antilles) in the 18th century, and Creoles, English-speaking blacks mainly from Jamaica. Spanish-speaking mestizos constitute the largest single group on the east coast, however.

Languages

The vast majority of Nicaraguans speak Spanish. It is the sole official language in all but the east coast regions where, under the 1987 constitution and the Atlantic Coast Autonomy Law enacted the same year, Miskito, Sumo, Rama, and Creole English have equal status with Spanish. On the west coast, Indian languages have disappeared, even though their influence remains in place-names and many nouns in Nicaraguan Spanish.

Religion

There is no official religion in Nicaragua, but about three-fifths of Nicaraguans adhere to Roman Catholicism

has grown considerably, particularly among the poor, and it is the religion of about one-fifth of the population. There are small Moravian and Anglican communities on the Caribbean coast. A very small Jewish community

also

exists in larger cities.

Settlement patterns

The western volcanic mountains and surrounding lowlands and lakes contain the majority of the country’s population, most of its cities, and the bulk of its industry. The valleys of the western central mountains contain a substantial population. In the second half of the 20th century, many former inhabitants of the western region migrated to the large but sparsely populated eastern region to farm, raise cattle, or exploit timber resources. The area remains an agricultural centre, though some light industry has emerged.

Slightly more than half of Nicaragua’s population is urban. By far the largest city is Managua, on the southeastern shore of Lake Managua. Other important urban centres include León, Granada, Masaya, and Chinandega, all in the west. Matalgalpa, Estelí, Juigalpa, and Jinotega are among the largest cities of the central mountains. Bluefields and Puerto Cabezas (Bilwi) are the largest towns on the Caribbean coast.

Demographic trends

Despite the loss of nearly

31

30,000 people who were killed in the

Contra

country’s civil war, and the hundreds of thousands who took refuge abroad, Nicaragua’s population

exploded

increased from 2.5 million to nearly 4 million during Sandinista rule (1979–90). Declining infant mortality and a wartime “baby boom” are possible explanations. The war also spurred internal migration and a rapid expansion of cities. These factors, along with high fertility rates, have left the country with a young population. At the beginning of the 21st century, nearly two-fifths of the population was under age 15. Moreover, a restrictive abortion policy adopted in the mid-2000s, which outlawed the procedure even in cases of rape or a life-threatening pregnancy, was expected to further increase the population.